The top 10 most popular AI chatbots accounted for 58.8% of all AI tool-related traffic last year. ChatGPT, the clear leader in the field, accounted for 48.36% of AI web traffic by itself. And the dominance of these big 10 AI chatbots is growing with usage among top 10 AI chatbots doubling over the past year.
This is all according to the SEO agency, onelitteweb.com’s 2025 study on AI usage. For the study, the company looked at AI web visits between August 2024 and July 2025.
As an educator, I find these numbers fascinating because it demonstrates the societal shift toward regularly interacting with AI chatbots. Many of my--and your--students are almost certainly among the AI chatbot users tallied in the report. That’s why it pays to be at least generally aware of these tools and what the strengths and potential impacts are on teaching.
I’ve spent time testing many of these AI chatbots for potential uses and abuses in my own classes, so here’s a quick look at each of the top 10 most popular AI chatbots, and what educators should know about each. If you’re looking for more detail on a specific chatbot, click the link, as either I or other Tech & Learning writers have done deeper dives on all these tools.
1. ChatGPT: 46.6 billion visits
The most popular AI tool on the globe is also, for obvious reasons, the one with which educators and students are most familiar. ChatGPT still dominates AI conversations, and according to most insiders, is still the most powerful technology.
OpenAI, which owns ChatGPT, continues to make improvements that educators should pay attention to, from its education-focused study mode to its academic research-friendly agent mode and overall advancements with the release of GPT-5, the company's latest and greatest AI model.
2. DeepSeek: 2.7 Billion visits
DeepSeek rocketed to fame in early 2025 after launching its models, which reportedly cost significantly less to train and required much less computing power than its U.S.-based rivals. Based in China, DeepSeek has demonstrated that high-quality AI products can be made outside of the U.S. with competitive results.
For educators, the tool highlights how international and widespread this technology is becoming. DeepSeek's success also suggests to me that even with more restrictive AI policies in the U.S., the impact of AI on education is here and going to remain.
3. Gemini: 1.7 billion visits
Google’s answer to ChatGPT can’t come close to matching it in visitors yet, but is definitely a major player in the AI space. Particularly important for educators, is its guided learning mode, which is the best AI tutoring feature I’ve tried.
Beyond taking a look at this tutoring mode, as educators, we should pay attention to Google’s AI policies in general because these are so integrated across other Google products. Whether students are using Gmail, Google Docs, or even Google Search, they are frequently being encouraged to get “help” from AI.
4. Perplexity: 1.5 billion visits
Perplexity is all about offering an AI-powered alternative to traditional search engines. While this isn’t particularly revolutionary—other AI tools have similar functions—as an educator, it’s important to understand that this is the way in which students will increasingly be surfing the internet and conducting research.
More generally, Perplexity allows users to choose from a variety of models, including its own AI models, Grok, and various GPT models from OpenAI.
5. Claude: 1.2 billion visits
One of the missions of Anthropic, the company behind Claude, is to create ethical AI. For teachers, this gives Claude several advantages: users have to opt in to allow their chats to be used for training data, information on the AI is encrypted, and it is designed to be less likely to hallucinate.
All of this makes an appealing AI partner for teachers, which is why some institutions have partnered with Claude for Claude for Education.
6. Microsoft Copilot: 957.2 million visits
Powered by various GPT models from OpenAI, Copilot is an increasingly popular tool and one that seems to be making particular inroads into education lately, at least in my circles. Two separate colleges I teach at have recently offered Copilot access to faculty.
Now fully integrated into Microsoft 365, Copilot can be a constant presence for teachers and educators using various tools such as email, Word, and Excel. For educators, this may certainly be helpful, but for students it could provide further temptations to use AI inappropriately.
7. Grok: 686.9 million visits
Grok was the fastest-growing AI tool of the top 10 this year, amassing what the onelittleweb.com study authors called “an almost unbelievable 1,343,408% YoY growth.” Developed by Elon Musk’s xAI, Grok is integrated with X, formerly Twitter, and Tesla vehicles.
Grok is designed to have fewer guardrails than many other major AIs, which makes it more likely to spew hate speech, but also could make it potentially more appealing to students. Even as a longtime . . . let’s call it “non-fan” of Musk, I was impressed with Grok’s capabilities the last time I tested it out.
8. Poe: 378 million visits
Launched in 2023, Poe has garnered an impressive following in that time. For educators looking to explore the relative strengths and weaknesses of various AI models in a short period of time, this is a great option.
Poe gives users access to dozens of different models, including Claude, ChatGPT, and others. This makes it the perfect tool to compare and contrast how different models respond to the same the prompt, and allows teachers to choose the best tool for tasks such as making a lesson plan.
9. Meta AI: 130.3 million visits
Meta’s foray into the AI space has not yet been as successful as tech giant rivals Google and Microsoft, but this social-focused AI model does have its proponents.
Educators should know that Meta AI functions more or less like ChatGPT, yet is faster in my experience. Meta AI is also designed to be more conversational, features an improved voice made, and offers a host of social features. Meta AI is integrated with Facebook and Instagram, and has a “discover mode,” which is an attempt to combine AI and social media with a feed dedicated to AI creations. I didn't really get it but I said the same thing about TikTok.
10. Mistral: 101.4 million visits
Mistral is the Paris-based company behind Le Chat, the French answer to ChatGPT. The English version of Mistral’s flagship chatbot functions much like ChatGPT, though it tends to be a bit faster.
Mistral and DeepSeek are the only tools developed outside the U.S. that made this list and like DeepSeek, Mistral provides a good example to educators and others of how AI has gone global. I believe this further highlights the need for AI literacy but also definitely highlights that if you want to access a high-quality AI chatbot these days, you have many options from a variety of tech companies.
